D tackle Hart not afraid of hard work

If this were Pittsburgh, the setting would be a steel mill. In the country’s heartland, it might be a field of crops.

This being Oregon, it doesn’t get more blue collar than a lumber yard. Such was the setting for Taylor Hart’s formative years, playing and then working at the woods-products distributorship run by his grandfather, with help from his dad.

As a kid, he played among the pallets. Years later, Hart worked for his grandfather, stacking wood and building framework for the warehouse.

“They taught me to earn everything, and that I need to work hard,” Hart said. “And I’ve tried to apply that to football.”

Now a sophomore defensive lineman for Oregon, Hart has gone from stacking wood at the mill to laying wood on the football field. The 6-foot-6, 280-pound native of Tualatin has started all six games for the Ducks entering Saturday’s 12:30 p.m. kickoff at Colorado, providing 17 tackles at a position usually called upon to hold its ground and occupy blockers for the sake of other defenders.

The stage for Hart’s emergence was set in 2010 when, as a redshirt freshman, he was the backup to Brandon Bair, a senior with a similar build and playing style. Once Bair graduated, it became immediately apparent during spring drills this past April that Hart was in line for more playing time.

“Now it’s his time,” UO defensive line coach Jerry Azzinaro said. “He’s certainly still a work in progress. But as far as work ethic goes, he’s got that.”

Hart’s grandfather and father helped set that tone as self-made businessmen. His mother provided the athleticism in his genes — Kathy Hart played volleyball at Fresno State.

As a youth football and basketball player, Taylor Hart’s dad provided coaching during games; his mother did so outside of them.

“She just never let me quit. Even when football was hard at a younger age, she always pushed me through it and told me I could do it,” Hart said. “And she made sure that I was working hard but was happy at the same time.” Click here for the complete story.